Flying

It's one of the most visited destinations in the air charter world: the Web. But finding the best ways to take advantage of it has challenged charter providers and customers since the start of the dot-com revolution. Virgin Charter's idea for a one-stop online booking portal closed down almost as quickly as it popped up.

When industry observers speculate about the future of the four biggest fractional-jet-share providers, the company that often prompts the most discussion is Flight Options. That's because it has arguably undergone more change than its competitors while also lacking the protection afforded by being under a large corporate umbrella.

Gulfstream's G650, which the company will start delivering in 2012, will be the world's fastest and longest range business jet. Its tall and wide-bodied cabin-the largest in the company's fleet-will boast the latest in comfort and convenience features.

When the Boeing Business Jet made its debut in 1997, the manufacturer suggested that customers would put about $5 million to $7 million into the interior. Instead, the company discovered that owners were investing as much as $17 million to get everything they wanted, even if that meant adding weight and reducing the airplane's range.

Business jet cabin refurbishment can cost a bundle. Replacing the carpet in a Gulfstream IV can set an owner back as much as $35,000. Reupholstering a dozen passenger seats costs another $120,000. And a complete cabin makeover can run from $250,000 to more than $2 million.

Conceptually, it makes sense: share the expenses of a flight among unrelated fellow travelers and slash the cost of charter. But flight sharing, or per-seat charter, has proved difficult to translate into a workable model for travelers or charter entities. Witness the 2008 demise of DayJet, the Florida-based air-taxi startup.

When it comes to reliability, there's a fundamental difference between the aviation field and just about every other walk of life. Nowhere is the chasm more visible than when you compare aviation's safety culture with what goes on in the computer industry. I know.

This small-cabin (light) jet has lower per-mile direct operating costs than contemporary models such as the dassault falcon 10 and learjet 35A, and the acquisition cost is only 20 percent of what you'd pay for a similarly performing very light jet. Plus, you can tweak a citation i to the point where it even outperforms many new aircraft costing millions more.

Quote/Unquote

““When I made the film The Invention of Lying, they gave me a private jet for getting back and forth between New York and London. I thought, ‘I will never use it’ but I ended up using it every weekend. You turn up, right, and the airport is completely empty. I mean, there’s just someone at the desk and then the pilot, who says, ‘Are you ready to go?’ and you say, ‘Don’t you want to see my passport?’ and he goes, ‘Oh yeah, I suppose I’d better.’”
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